Process of refining iron.



' No Drawing.

UNITED STATES PATENT ormon.

JOSY FLOHR, or BODANGE, LUXEMBURG, essrenon TO socrn'rn Aivommn DESHAu'rs ronmvnaux J". FORGES, or DUDELANGE, LUXEMBURG.

PROCESS OF -REFINING IRON.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May 20, 1906. SerialNo. 433,992.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosY FLoHR, a subject of the Grand Duchy ofLuxemburg, residing at Rodange, in the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg,engineer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processesof Refining Iron, of which the following is a specification. i

As is well known the separation of the foreign substances from the bathof metal in open hearth processes is effected with greater difficultyand less rapidly the further the refining progresses because the foreignsubstances to be eliminated are in a more diluted state, and also theoxidizing power of the slag has decreased. If at this-stage a furtherquantity of ore were added without any other measure being adopted, thefreshore would be greatly diluted by the resulting slag, and its actionwould be lessened. The defects of this method of Working aresufficiently well known. In existing methods the metal is thereforepassed into a second furnace where it is subjected to the action offresh undiluted ore, thus afiording the possibility of getting rid ofthe slag which has become inert. Accordin to the present method the sameresult is o ta'ined preferably in this second stage of the process, inthe following manner.

When the separation of the foreign substances is observed to proceedwith greater difficulty, briquets are introduced into the furnace, whichbriquets by virtue of their greater specific gravity are able topenetrate through the fluid sla and act upon the foreign substances in te bath.

The briquets may consist chiefly of pure iron oxid with calcium hydroxid(slaked lime) as the binding medium, preference being given torolling-mill scale, high percentage ore dust and the like. Iron scrap,such as turnings, filin and the like, may also be added to the mixture,and any other suitable binding medium can be substituted for the-calciumhydroxid.

The mass must be prepared in such a man- I ner that the briquets, whichshould be formed under very high pressure, acquire I a far higherspecific gravity than the fluid .slag.

The shape of the briquets should be such i that the reacting surface inthe iron bath is as large as possible.

which should not be less than 50% of the total surface, will remain thesame throughout, because, by reason of their: specific gravity thebriquets sink as quickly in the bath 0 iron as they are consumed by thelatter.

The decomposition of the binding medium causes a brisk agitation of thebath, the reaction being thereby still further accelerated.

This method is also applicable to the refining process in electricalfurnaces.

The advantages of the method consist chiefly in that the refining isaccelerated and the consumption of fuel correspondingly lessened whilethe output and yield are increased.

In refining phosphoric pig iron, the phosphoric acid content of the slagis increased.

The term open hearth furnace occurring in this specification is notconfined to the old types of open hearth furnaces which are heated bymeans of gaseous or carbonaceous fuel. In carrying out my process I maymake use of any open hearth furnace electrically heated. Any method ofelectrical heating maybe employed.

Claims.v

1. The herein described process of refining iron consisting in treatingthe molten bath in an open hearth furnace by means of May, 1908.

' J OSY FLOHR.

In presence of two witnesses CHARLES DUMONT, D. W. CUsTHY.

a briqueted mixture containing iron oxids The reacting surface of thebriquets,

